Planning: Then and Now

In my previous teaching life (you know, like 4 years ago), planning was neat and controlled.  I had a compact list of math standards I had to hit and they were broken down into units.  The Saturday before the next unit was going to start, I brought home my standards and my calendar and starting matching.  Each day was a different standard.  Maybe two days for one standard.  That was the only planning I did.  As long as I knew what standard I needed to hit, I was ready to teach.  

I didn't plan what problems I was going to give students, never-mind actually doing the problems myself.  I didn't plan how I was going to make the math meaningful or relevant.  I didn't plan how I was going to engage learners.  I didn't plan for interventions or extensions.  As long as I knew what standard I needed to hit, I was ready to teach.  It was survival mode, after all. 

It was also satisfying and neat.  I could assure everyone (myself, really) that I was doing what I needed to do.  I was crossing standards off and crossing days off.  With a set routine, students knew the expectations.  I was in total control.  And it sure looked like that when you walked in.  Imagine it--my students sitting neatly in my meeting area.  I was at the front by the small whiteboard with a problem on the board.  Students had their math notebook open, writing down notes and steps.  Student desks were arranged facing the large whiteboard where I wrote down practice problems.  All students following along.  It was total control.

In my current teaching life, I plan week by week with my three other team mates.  We look at what standards we want to hit and what activities we are going to use each day.  Then, I take it a step further.  I look at my week as a whole, rather than day by day.  I think first about what Number Talks I want to do to help students along to the standards that we said we were going to teach.  Then, I think about how I can arrange the activities we said we were going to do in a flexible way rather than by day.  But then, I also think about what other activities we can do so that we are doing more math than just the one standard that's on the list.  We don't have time to cover each standard in isolation.  

So, my math time has become flexible.  There are no assigned desks, no chime to indicate switching to a new station.  Students work on the activity of their choice, wherever works best for that particular activity on that particular day.  Students work on the required tasks and the optional tasks within the time that we have.  We use timers and students are creating a sense of time and becoming more responsible with it.  I pull students to work with me for the time necessary, not just until I ring the chime again.

I don't have to worry about students finishing their "have to" work because I trust them.  And they don't want to lose that trust.  I think they also trust me that I am giving them work to do that is going to help them be better mathematicians. They know that's the goal.  So they do it with an open mind.  They persevere to solve problems.  They use the right tools in the right way.  They explain their thinking and try to make sense of the thinking of others.  They model with mathematics.  They look for and make use of structure.

They are mathematicians!

I'm a little nervous for parent/teacher/student conferences this week because I don't have a math test to show with a percentage grade like they are used to seeing.  But I do have excited mathematicians and flexible thinkers.  I do have math journals and a digital portfolio.  I think it will be enough.